So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Trenchfriend]

Skinny jeans are not that uncomfortable as I thought, but now, someone help me out, please.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Skinny jeans are not that uncomfortable as I thought, but now, someone help me out, please.

That's a great pick-up line!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think if you carry a seam ripper with you at all times, you won't get into these situations.

 

[Hercule]

I am amused by some of the tight jeans people wear these days. I can only wonder how the get them off when so often their feet seem considerably larger than the cuff.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I can only wonder how the get them off when so often their feet seem considerably larger than the cuff.

That are the superstretch ones.

 

[tonyb]

Maybe this belongs in the “You know you are getting old when:” thread, but seeing how we’re on a blue jeans theme ...

I thought I would never wear “stretch” jeans, the ones with a bit of Spandex or whatever woven into the fabric, but I happen to have a pair, and I gotta admit, there’s something to be said for ’em.

 

[Trenchfriend]

In Europe, it didn't change. The low quality is typically 98% cotton/2% elasthane, the solid quality 99% cotton/1% elasthane.

The soft Jogg-Denim is of course another story.

 

[tonyb]

I am amused by some of the tight jeans people wear these days. I can only wonder how the get them off when so often their feet seem considerably larger than the cuff.

I’d imagine she’d have to turn them inside out as she peeled them down her legs and then have another person grab the waistband with both hands and yank.

Rare is the person who, to my eye, is flattered by such tight-fitting garments. If a person is carrying so much as an ounce of excess weight, such items of attire only draw attention to it. That’s quite the opposite of the desired effect, I’d think.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've never understood how people can say they wear this tight stuff for "comfort." I hate the feeling of any tight, constricting garment -- one reason I don't ever wear jeans. It feels like being sewn into a canvas bag.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I've never understood how people can say they wear this tight stuff for "comfort." I hate the feeling of any tight, constricting garment -- one reason I don't ever wear jeans. It feels like being sewn into a canvas bag.

That's on point. It's very difficult today to find regular-fit jeans which offer the real comfortable fit as back in the 90s. Luckily, german deparment storebrand still got such ones. Curiously, their fit really didn't change since many years!

On the other side, this "Jogg-Denim" seems to be a good invention. It makes slim-fit jeans very enjoyable. I just forget the slim-fit while walking.

Skinny jeans are of course over-the-top. But there are indeed good quality ones, if you got observation skills. Mine is astonishing well made (and 99% cotton/1% elasthane!) and the fit is suprisingly good. And it's indeed true-to-size.

But despite, I still love regular-fit jeans.

 

[tonyb]

I get daily emails from a “design” site that really oughta be a bit more upfront about who they really serve.

Today’s missive tells me I should replace windows when the existing ones have seen 15 to 20 years of service, the HVAC system at 15, the refrigerator at 10, and the stove at 16. Oh, and kitchen cabinets, in the writer’s estimation, no longer “function” after 50 years.

I accept that most of that sort of stuff which was manufactured back before Grandpa retired really was more durably built than what has been produced in more recent decades, but dang, getting people believing their windows and furnaces and major kitchen appliances ought be replaced just because the people in the business of selling such things say so, well, it leaves little doubt as to what the site is really about.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My kitchen cabinets are at least a hundred years old, and they still hold my accumulation of distressed lunchroom china and eighty-year-old pots and pans as well as they ever did. And my refrigerator is nearly eight times past its expiration date. Sometimes I just don't feel like an American.

 

[tonyb]

My kitchen cabinets are at least a hundred years old, and they still hold my accumulation of distressed lunchroom china and eighty-year-old pots and pans as well as they ever did. And my refrigerator is nearly eight times past its expiration date. Sometimes I just don't feel like an American.

An ice-maker might be a nice thing, and the fridge that came with this house has one, but I shut down its water supply shortly after moving in because it was leaking and, you know, you really don’t want that.

A stove, at base, is a simple contrivance. I trust that just about all of us here grew up with kitchen stoves with readily and easily and inexpensively replaceable parts. I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do when this glass-topped thing in my kitchen blows a burner.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
I take back that last sentence. I *do* know what I’ll do when the glass-topped stove goes kaput. I’ll go find myself an older stove, one I can expect never to replace. I’m thinking gas, seeing how gas feeds the furnace and the water heater, in the basement, directly beneath the kitchen, so plumbing it oughta be cheap.

 

[3fingers]

A friend of mine is in the appliance repair business. He sells used appliances and does repairs on them. Since nobody does their own service anymore the manufacturers certify people like him to do warranty repairs for them.
He goes to training clinics to stay certified and learn about the latest models. He told me some years ago that they are told that the design life of new appliances is 8 years. Anything beyond that is considered gravy. They can also discontinue parts availability or raise part prices astronomically to force replacement. I don't even want to get into what I think about that.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^
BITD the parts likeliest to wear out were pretty much generic and available at any hardware store and in the housewares aisle in many supermarkets.

Another thing to be said for Internet commerce: you can find most anything. I suspect that those discontinued parts will be available to those who bother searching, but I acknowledge that these people would be few, relatively.

 

[3fingers]

Another thing to be said for Internet commerce: you can find most anything. I suspect that those discontinued parts will be available to those who bother searching, but I acknowledge that these people would be few, relatively.

That is true, and I also think that you are correct that the number of people looking for those parts would be relatively small.
Another conversation that we have had is that appliances have become somewhat like having the latest cell phone.
Any glitch in operation is an excuse to just go buy a new one even if the needed repair is simple and quickly done. They just want the old one gone.
That says more about the mentality of the consumer than the quality of the appliance. On the other hand, it provides him with nice stock to be repaired and resold at good profit.

 

[Just Jim]

^^^^
Another thing to be said for Internet commerce: you can find most anything. I suspect that those discontinued parts will be available to those who bother searching, but I acknowledge that these people would be few, relatively.

Almost anything. I accidentally let the smoke out of my washing machine a year or so ago, can't find the needed parts no matter how I try. I'm thinking I may have to break down and replace it. The poor thing is only 50 or so years old, I hate to consign it to the scrap heap at such a young age. (On the other hand, I got it for $40 in 1991, I think I got my money's worth out of it.)

 

[GHT]

50 years, mine only lasted 30, I was thinking of taking it back and complain about it. There's a life saver of a product called Calgon, it dissolves any calcium in the water that causes furring and ultimately the appliance. Soft water areas don't need it but we have lived in this hard water area long enough to know that without treatment, water appliances, central heating pipes, bathtubs, showers, toilets all need maintenance to remove the scale.

On TV I have seen an amazing laser type of printer that scans something like a car component then it transfers that information to a computerised lathe or similar cutting machine which then reproduces an exact copy. It's probably too expensive for a washing machine but it was a life saver for me when I was after difficult part to find for my old MG.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm still using a washing machine that turns 85 this month. For its birthday I poured a pint of 90-weight gear oil into the transmission box. That and replacing the wringer rolls about ten years ago are the only maintenance I've had to do in the thirty years I've owned it.

Replacing the wringers was a problem until I found a company in New York that resurfaces old typewriter platens. I told them what I needed, and the kind of rubber required, and they were able to put new rubber on the old shafts. I think it ran about a hundred dollars, and I'm good for another half-century or so.